Sunday, June 27, 2010

Grilled Sweet Potato Salad with Green Onion, Basil, Thyme, and Feta

I haven't always been a big fan of sweet potatoes; in fact I only started liking them after I realized they had lots of recipe possibilities besides the brown-sugar-and-marshmallow topped baked sweet potato casserole I'd known as a kid. I'm not sure where I got the idea for grilling thick slices of sweet potatoes and using them in a potato salad with vinaigrette dressing, green onions, Feta, basil and thyme, (and it took me two tries to come up with a combination that seemed just right) but this Grilled Sweet Potato Salad with Green Onion, Basil, Thyme, and Feta was so good, and leftovers were tasty, even after a few days in the fridge.

I know some people will love this and others might turn their noses up, but I used a purchased vinaigrette to brush the sweet potatoes before grilling and to toss with the salad. This is one my favorite summer salad dressings for grilling vegetables, but any vinaigrette you like the flavor of will work here. (Choose a vinaigrette will less than 3 grams of sugar per serving for the South Beach Diet.)

Put the sweet potato slices on a baking sheet, then brush both sides with dressing and season with sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Grill the sweet potatoes about 4-5 minutes on first side, then rotate and cook 3-4 minutes on this side. (You can skip the rotating if you don't care about grill marks.)

Then flip sweet potato slices over and grill 7-8 minutes more on the second side, for a total of 15-20 minutes grilling time. Actual grilling time will depend on the temperature of your grill, and I started checking with a fork after about 12 minutes, and moved the sweet potatoes off the grill as they got tender.

Let sweet potato slices cool for a few minutes, then cut them into cubes and put in salad bowl.

Add the sliced green onions, thin basil strips, and chopped fresh thyme and gently combine with sweet potatoes. The use as much of the second 1/4 cup of dressing as you need to moisten the salad (you may not need all the dressing.)

Gently stir in the crumbled feta, season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve salad at room temperature. (I think this would taste great with crumbled Gorgonzola cheese as well if you don't have feta.)

Preheat gas or charcoal barbecue grill to medium-high heat. (You can hold your hand there about 3 seconds at that heat.)

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into slices about 3/4 inch thick. Lay slices on a cookie sheet, then measure 1/4 cup vinaigrette and brush each side of sweet potatoes with dressing, seasoning each side with salt and freshly ground black pepper after you brush on the dressing.

Grill the sweet potato slices, cooking about 4-5 minutes on first side, then rotating to cook 3-4 minutes on that side. When you have nice grill marks on the first side (or when sweet potatoes are getting dark on that side) flip the sweet potatoes over and cook about 7-8 minutes more on the second side, or until sweet potatoes feel tender when pierced with a fork. (Total grilling time will be about 15-20 minutes, but I started taking them off the grill as they felt done, and the larger pieces took more time.)

Let grilled sweet potato slices cool for 10-15 minutes, then cut into cubes and place in salad bowl. Add sliced green onions, chiffonade basil strips, and chopped thyme and gently combine with sweet potatoes. Stir in the other 1/4 cup of vinaigrette, using as much as you need to moisten the salad (you may not need all the dressing, depending on how wet you like your salads.) Gently stir in the crumbled feta, season salad with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, and serve salad at room temperature.

I had a small container of leftover salad that was in the fridge for 2 days, and it still tasted great, but you may not have any leftovers!

I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn't have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you.

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Posts may include links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com, and this blog earns a few cents on the dollar if readers purchase the items I recommend, so thanks for supporting my blog when you shop at Amazon!

This recipe is going to the top of my list, Kalyn! Wonderful combination of herbs. I have tried grilling sweet potatoes several times in the past and always had great results - the flavor is irresistible.

Kalyn, this sounds lovely. I have a sweet potato salad that is paired with blue cheese, but the potatoes are not roasted. I'm curious to see how the taste might change. Your recipe looks delicious. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

Our mothers must have made sweet potatoes the same way - with marshmallows! Mine even put pineapple in hers once. So I grew up hating sweet potatoes. Now I can't get enough. I've been known to bake a sweet potato and have it for dinner, all on its own.What you've done here is splendid, Kalyn. It's already on my weekend menu!

Yum! This would be perfect with my lemon thyme that I planted this year! I often grill sweet potatoes and then toss with lime juice & cilantro then serve over quinoa that is mixed with pinto beans, chipotle, & lime vinaigrette! Yum!

Puttering in the Midwest, probably still pretty good. If you can use garlic, I might add some chopped garlic to the oil, and maybe a little more green onions and basil. Hope it turns out for you with those changes.

I fired up the old charcoal and made this last night! Delish! Thanks for the recipe! I just shook together some olive oil, balsamic and trader joe's everyday seasoning. Yum! AND I got to use thyme, basil and green onions from my garden!

Ohhh, this was so goooood! I also have a basil plant, and I'm always so excited when I get to use some in a dish. For the dressing I used mirin, red wine, and apricot marmalade, which was reallt good. I'm still in need of a grill, though, but this turned out all right in the oven. Have you ever thought of adding red bell pepper? I did that, and ended up with roasted bell pepper, which I though was marvelous. Thanks for the great salad!

I've made this several times this spring/summer and it's fast becoming a family favorite. My son has requested it several times. We love it! Took the recipe on vacation with us so we could have it while away.

Amazing recipe! Thanks so much. I shared your blog a few months ago with my sister-in-law and she is the one who discovered this recipe and has been making it this summer, including last night's picnic. I need to finally make it myself. Keep up the good work!

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